It was reported late Tuesday that the Red Sox made a two-year offer to Drew (Bowden, Feb. 3). However, according to Gammons, Boston is asking Drew to essentially be a utility infielder, playing shortstop, third and second base.

Matthew Cerrone, Lead Writer

The way I understand it, Drew is still insisting on a three- or four-year deal, and no team (including the Mets) seems to want to go there. The Blue Jays, A’s and Twins are also reportedly interested (Martino, Jan. 27, Heyman, Jan. 28), so maybe he still feels he has leverage.

He’s reportedly willing to play multiple positions, but I assume that is simply a way to get more teams involved. In the end, I have to think he’d prefer to be a starting shortstop, which is something the Mets can offer him that Boston cannot. The Blue Jays have Jose Reyes and Houston has a bright, up-and-coming prospect ready to take over. The A’s have Nick Punto and Jed Lowrie. So, again, like I said months ago, the Twins and Mets may end up Drew’s best option…

I just don't see this like so many other Mets fans. Drew is not worth the money or the years he is asking for...not even close. Tejada is younger, cheaper, and statistically on par with Drew, minus the minimal power Drew has. Now suppose Drew signs a deal with the Mets, which is guaranteed to be nothing near what he thinks he is worth. Just saying... do you want the disgruntled SS on a short term deal who isn't really that much better than the young player you already have? Or the cheaper, young player who is hungry to prove that he can play at this level? I'd take the younger guy in that situation almost every time.

Most people underestimate Drew's defense. He is not just above average, he is one of the very best !!! When you are as needy as the Mets and are trying to develop a pitching staff, you must have this defense and if necessary you need to overpay. Let's go Sandy cheapskate, pull the trigger on this one!

I dont think you can quantify with any stat how much better the Mets will be with Stephen Drew over Ruben Tejada. If Tejada had a BREAKOUT year, i think we'd STILL be looking at a line of .300 BA, .340 OBP, with above avg defense, but what, at most 7 HRs? At MOST??? And that's if he BREAKS OUT. And i think that is being VERY generous with his power if he had a career year. What's more realistic, is if he bounces back from last year, probably a .280 BA, with a .333 oBp, 1-2 HRs and say 30-40rbis? He is NOT a starting SS on a team that struggles to score runs. And hes not good enough in the field to warrant a Rey Ordonez like spot in a lineup, where is defense makes a .235 avg worth it.

Meanwhile, Drew should be good for .250-.280 BA, a .320-.340 OBP, with 12-17 HRs and 60-80 RBIs, all while playing the same above average, if not better, defense. Lets not forget this kid once also hit 21 HRs in a season, with a .316, .291, and .278 avg over other seasons....and he's still only 30

Drew's AVERAGE numbers alone simply blow away what Tejada could do AT HIS ABSOLUTE BEST. Furthermore, IF DREW is the one who has a "breakout" year (cant think of a better word since he's already a veteran) we're talking 18-20 HRs or more, close to .300 BA or better, with a .350+ obp. That would make him a top NL SS and all-star.

U can throw WAR, and other types of advanced stats all day at us, but the avg numbers Drew would put up, compared to Ruben's, as well the possibility of both of them at their best, isn't even a friggin comparison. Anyone against signing him is insane; barring of course if we sign him to a long or expensive contract, or BOTH.

And finally, ive read he's a good clubhouse guy...and while i dont put a lot of stock in that, it's an improvement over the "lazy" and sour attitude Ruben SUPPOSEDLY has.

I'd sign/offer him 1 year, $11 million, with a team option for a 2nd year at $13 million ($2 million buyout), which becomes a player option if he gets 490-550 ABs or so, thus proving he's durable. If we're going to sign him to less than 3 years, (which i would because he's only played over 100 games twice in the last 4 seasons), i'd rather over pay a little and have the option to let him go if he proves injury prone again. This way he gets a nice payday of $13 million from us guaranteed (the 11 mil plus the buyout), has the option to go back out on the free agent market if he does well (which is his right), and also protects us from a long term commitment of wasting money on him if he's terrible OR gets hurt and plays half a season or less.

long post, sorry, but i had a lot to say about him that i HOPE can resonate with some of you guys

I like this lineup. Defensively, it might just be the best in th NL. Offensively, it's far better than hat we had last year, although there are question marks 5-8, and that is being kind. But ifvDavis can figure it out and D'arnaut and Lagares can improve........ Face it, the best we can hope for is third, but third may be good enough

@MFan28@Merrill Needham Drew has a career obp of .329, he CAN lead off if necessary. Ideally, EYJ is who you want to go with, but that means sitting Murph or Lagares, whom are both essential to the offense and defense respectively. EYJ can handle himself in center, but isn't very good at 2nd. In Merrill's instance, we can keep both Murph and Lagares in the everyday lineup, while adding a great bat AND defensive player in Drew

@thefranchise41@mets2014Turner is a good bench player...he just has to stop the childish high school "pie in the face" routine. Walk off single in May and you run around and hit someone in the face with a pie? Act like your supposed to win, not like it`s a big surprise. He can hit, just play the game...enthusiasm is fine, but, pie in the face...c`mon.

@MFan28@thefranchise41@mets2014 He's not the only guy in the league that does that. It's normal to do something to the walk off hero, let it be a pie in the face or a bucket of Gatorade over the players head. AJ Burnett did that to Yankee walk off heroes all the time when he was in th Bronx.

Hope it happens for two years, option for three is fine also...Rosario may be ready to take over by then. EY, Murph, Wright, Cano, Davis, CY, TDA, Drew, P....against righties is not bad. Lets face reality, TC sees Lagares as 4th OF.

@chasesimms Just the idea that you need to convince this guy to sign here speaks volumes to his desire to play for the Mets as well as his desire to play at all. Can you say Alberto Castillo or Mike Bordick? Please, this guy is a waste of money.

folks I am not against signing drew...I actually like the idea, but this may lead to a subtraction or two...they are at their self imposed salary number and would have to shed salary somewhere...ike davis seems like a logical move, but I wouldn't be shocked to see them trade murphy and put flores or EYJ at 2B...just speculating here

@arc34@mets2014 who's to say they wouldn't dump someone in the event they signed Rodney...all I know is they are at their $87M number...unless they have a money tree in their backyard, the $$$ has to come from somewhere

People don't realize the simple fact that upgrading SS from Ruben to Drew is a huge deal. Not due to Drew being a great player because he isn't but due to once again the simple fact Ruben is awful. I'm not exactly sure people get just hope bad the guy barley hit 2.00 last year, has ZERO pop, cant produce runs, is slow as dirt, played awful defense last season, and even when he almost hit 300 still hardly had a better on base % then Drew hitting 253 last season. Drew is better at each and every part of the game of baseball then Ruben. power, hitting for avg, producing runs, speed, defense and he is a world series champion. Its not about singing Drew its about singing a huge upgrade over Ruben, and to the people who complain about the money or years you are absolute lost. This is NY which happens to be the biggest sports market in the world. We aren't the Tampa Mets get a hold of your self will you.

@G.T.O Hey! Watch that Tampa smack! Their club (which plays in St. Petersburg mind you), has posted better results than the Mets the last few years. I'm a Mets fan living in Tampa, so I have a soft spot for those guys. Why don't you pick on some city like Cleveland, Houston, or Kansas City.

@G.T.O Actually, you are incorrect in your assessment. While Drew does represent an improvement, you are looking at a gain of .5 WAR. Most projection systems put Drew at 2.0 WAR next year, compared to 1.5ish for Tejada. Yes, last year was terrible, but statistics show that he is a rebound candidate, as has had a BABIP of .230, despite a high LD%. Fun fact - even including last year, Tejada's line drive % is the 3rd highest from 2010 to now. Easy to forget with last year's down season, but prior to that, Tejada was a very serviceable player.

On the other hand, we know what Drew is, and aside from 2 strong seasons, he is an above average, but not great player - certainly not worth a 2+ year deal. The other scare thing about Drew are his splits. Not only has he shown a platoon split, but he also has a strong home-road split. Considering that the guy has played for teams whose home parks are favorable to hitters (Arizona, Boston), the move to Citifield scares me.

Drew would provide 2 important skills for the 2014 Mets - defense at SS, critical for a pitching first team, and some pop. He would definitely provide a slight boost over Tejada, but if you are talking about having to commit 2-3 years and approx. $10m per, he is simply not worthwhile - it becomes a mis-allocation of resources. If they can sign him for 1-2 yrs @ under $10m per, then sure go for it.

Refer to the below article for the source information, and an in depth explanation of why its not an obvious move.

@G.T.O I completely disagree with everything you just said. Drew is not better than Tejada, except in power numbers. Last year Tejada was a kid who thought he had the world in his hands; now he's a kid who realizes how hard he must work to stay at this level. He has to be hungry and ready to prove what he's worth...and when he was playing well, Tejada was not any less of a player than Drew. I will take that kid over Drew any day, any time. If Tejada stinks it up, there is plenty of time and flexibility to move him or to make a deal mid-season. They sign Drew and all of that is gone. and the Mets are once again stuck with a mediocre player at a salary meant for a better than average player. which Drew is not. There is just no evidence to support your claims. Now, I'm going on a hunch too...but I like my odds better.

@Ravi Kirtane - You make sense. This is exactly what I have been saying, without all the stats. Personally, I agree but I go on feel and instincts over stats. Currently, it's all aligned; signing Drew at anything more than 2 yrs/$3 million per year is a mistake.

hope this happens. Mets will suddenly have depth at SS that they lacked since Jose left. Also, Omar Q is a more than capable backup if they want Ruben to get better and get reg ABs in Vegas. Furthermore, Ruben is still only one year removed from a very decent season, and is only 24. If he winds up putting it all together in the minors, he possibly can take over for Drew when his contract is up, while just being 26 or so (supposed "prime years" for batters)....of course who knows if he'll/we'll wait that long, or go to Gavin C, or another option, etc etc

so this really is a win win win IF we can sign him to a reasonable deal....really hope this happens